Flashing



Oct. 25,V 1955 A. G. MuNRo 2,721,819

v FLASHING Filed Feb. v21, 1955 /4 TTOP/VE'Y United States Patent OFLASHING Allison G. Munro, Garden City, N. Y. Application February 21,1955, Serial No. 489,717

4 Claims. (Cl. 154-51) This invention relates to dampprooing masonrywalls and it has for its object to provide a novel and improved flexibleashing material for that purpose.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tough and durableflashing of the above type which is economical to manufacture andinstall, and which forms an impenetrable barrier against moisture vaporas well as free water at all vulnerable points in masonry construction.

Still another object is to construct a flashing of the type specifiedwhich is not only highly lleXible and therefore readily conformable withthe contour of brick and concrete walls, steel beams, etc., but'is alsoextensible in two directions and immune to fracture regardless of theway in which a building may settle.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent as the nature ofthe invention is more fully disclosed.

Since no one has yet devised a masonry structure whichl is inherentlyleak-proof, it is customary in constructing modern buildings to employmoisture-resisting ashings or coatings of one kind or another to sealthe many joints and seams that must of necessity be made waterproof.Typical flashings employed for this purpose consist of waterproofingsheets of paper treated with asphalt compositions, etc., which are laidbetween courses of brick, or on the concrete covering spandrel beams atfloor levels, or wherever else protection is required.

The matter of cost, and limitations on bulk, militate against the use ofsome protective ashings heretofore proposed for the above purpose. Thegreatest problem, however, has been to devise a ilashing which issufficiently exible, durable and at the same time expansible to insureclose tting to the irregular contours of walls, columns, etc., withoutfracturing, and to avoid bursting or tearing due to carelessconstruction practices as well as the subsequent effects of age andparticularly the tendency of buildings to settle.

The present invention provides a novel and improved composite flexible,expansible flashing for dampproong masonry walls which avoids theforegoing disadvantages of the prior art. In its preferred form, mycomposite flashing comprises an inner core consisting of amoistureimpervious sheet of thermoplastic polyvinyl resin, toughmembranes preferaby of brous material such as paper which cover bothsides of the polyvinyl resin core and are thermoplastically bondedthereto, the whole assembly being creped or corrugated bothlongitudinally and transversely to permit same to stretch in twodirections, and an outer coating of pliable, stretchable asphalt whichcovers both sides of the composite sheet and not only adherestenaciously to the creped membranes but also constitutes a bonding agentwith masonry.

The term dampproong is used herein in its broadest sense, and includeswaterproong, rust-proofing, corrosionprooting, mildew-proofing, and thesetting up of barriers against the passage of moisture vapor as well asfree water. In all of the many situations in which my flashing may beused in the construction of a building its of this invention are setforth more in detail in the claims appended hereto, the nature and scopeof the invention may be better understood by referring to the followingdescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming apart thereof, in which a specific embodiment has been set forth for ofillustration.

In the drawing: i. Fig. l is a vertical section through the wall of abuilding, illustrating the use of my flashing;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the first step in themanufacture of the ashing;

Fig. 3 is a broken plan view of before it is creped;

purposes Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the longitudinalcreping or corrugating of the sheet;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the sheet as itemerges ,from

the creping rolls of Fig. 4; i

Fig. 6 is a transverse section through said sheet, taken on line 6 6 ofFig. 4; Y A Fig 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating thev transversecreping of the flashing; 'l v Fig. 8 is a plan view of the sheet as itemergesfrom the rolls of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a broken plan view of theiinished sheet with the final coatingof flexible, stretchable asphalt; andv Fig. 10 is a transverse sectionon line 10- 10 of Fig. 9.

In the following description certain specic terms are used forconvenience in referring to the various details These terms, however,are to be im.

of the invention. terpreted as broadly as the state of the art willpermit.

In the drawing, Fig. l shows a spandrel beam 1 supporting the concreteflooring 2 of a building, while 3 are the bricks forming the outer wallwhich are laid in the usual way with intermediate courses of mortar 4.

The flexible spandrel beam flashing sheets 5 forming the subject matterof the present invention are laid between the flooring 2 and the coursesof brick 3, and are embedded in the surrounding mortar 4 as shown inFig. 1. The construction of the ashing 5 will now be described.

The composite flashing comprises an inner core consisting of amoisture-impervious sheet 6 of thermoplastic polymerized vinyl resinsuch as a polyvinyl ester, polyvinyl acetate, polystyrene or the like,which is covered on both sides with fibrous membranes such as toughpaper membranes 7 and 8, as illustrated in Fig. 3. It may be fabricatedby passing the three-ply sheet under pressure between smooth heatedrolls 9 and 10, as shown in Fig. 2, causing the membranes 7 and 8 to bethermoplastically bonded to the inner core 6. Fig. 3 shows the smoothcomposite sheet as it emerges from the rolls of Fig. 2.

The composite sheet as it appears in Fig, 3 is next creped or corrugatedlongitudinally, for example by passing same between the rolls 11 and 12of Fig. 4. The rolls 11 and 12 are corrugated or groovedcircumferentially in any desired manner, depending upon the shape, depthand number of corrugations to be impressed in the sheet. Figs. 5 and 6show the sheet as it emerges the composite flashingfrom the rolls 11 and12 of Fig. 4, and for purposes of illustration the corrugations areshown to be of angular V-shape and are designated by the referencenumeral 14.

The longitudinallyrcreped sheet of Figs. and 6 is next creped orcorrugated in a transverse direction, for example by passing samebetween the rolls 15 and 16 of Fig. 7. These rolls 15 and 16 may becorrugated or grooved transversely, or in a direction parallel to theiraxes, or they may be grooved diagonally or both transversely anddiagonally to insure the desired stretch in more than one direction.Here again the configuration of the roll surfaces depends upon theshape, depth and number of corrugations to be impressed in the sheet.Fig. 8 shows the sheet as it emerges from the rolls 15 and 16 of Fig. 7,and the cross-hatched surface designated by the reference numeral 17indicates that the composite sheet is now creped both longitudinally andtransversely, or also diagonally as described above, and is thus capableof stretching in more than one direction.

The composite sheet of Fig. 8, multi-creped as described above, is nallycoated on both sides with any suitable soft, flexible, stretchable andplastic asphalt composition 18 which constitutes a bonding agent withmasonry. Figs. 9 and l0 show the finished composite ashing, from whichit will be seen that the asphalt coating 18 completely covers thecomposite corrugated sheet and gives the finished flashing a smoothsurface which is readily bonded with the masonry as shown in Fig. 1.

To cite but one example of a moistureproof ilexible flashing embodyingthe invention, and fabricated as herein disclosed, two and a half poundsof asphalt composition were employed per nine square feet of flashingwith a finished thickness of about one-sixteenth inch; tensile strength500 lbs. per square inch; bursting strength 158 lbs; stretch over 22%without fracturing, in some cases 30% before tearing.

Although a specic embodiment has been shown and described herein forpurposes of illustration, it will be evident to those skilled in the artthat the invention is capable of various modications and adaptationswithin the scope of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A composite exible, expansible flashing for dampproong masonry wallscomprising an inner moistureimpervious sheet of thermoplastic polyvinylresin, membranes covering both sides of said inner sheet andthermoplastically bonded thereto, the composite sheet being flexible andbendable and being creped both longitudinally and transverselypermitting same to stretch in two directions, and flexible, stretchableplastic material covering both sides of said composite sheet wherebysaid sheet may be bonded to surrounding masonry structure.

2. A composite llexible, expansible flashing for dampproong masonrywalls comprising an inner moistureimpervious sheet of thermoplasticpolyvinyl resin, membranes covering both sides of said inner sheet andthermoplastically bonded thereto, the composite sheet being flexible andbendable and being creped both longitudinally and transverselypermitting same to stretch in two directions, and a coating of exible,stretchable asphalt covering both sides of said composite sheet wherebysaid sheet may be bonded to surrounding masonry structure.

3. A composite flexible, eXpansible ilashing for dampproong masonrywalls comprising an inner moistureimpervious sheet of thermoplasticpolyvinyl resin, brous paper sheets covering both sides of said innersheet and thermoplastically bonded thereto, the composite sheet beingflexible and bendable and being corrugated both longitudinally andtransversely permitting same to stretch in two directions, and a coatingof flexible, stretchable asphalt covering both sides of said papersheets and being bonded to corrugations thereof whereby said compositesheet may be bonded to surrounding masonry structure.

4. Method of making a composite exible, expansible flashing fordampprooling masonry walls which comprises thermoplastically bondingsheets of membranes to both sides of a moisture-impervious sheet ofthermoplastic polyvinyl resin, creping the resulting composite sheetboth longitudinally and transversely to permit it to stretch in twodirections, and covering both sides of the creped sheet with a exible,stretchable plastic material which is bondable to surrounding masonry.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,005,221 Cohen et al. lune 18, 1935 2,085,618 Walsh June 29, 19372,140,407 Schilling Dec. 13, 1938 2,203,822 Hyman June l1, 1940

3. A COMPOSITE FLEXIBLE, EXPANSIBLE FLASHING FOR DAMPPROOFING MASONRYWALLS COMPRISING AN INNER MOISTUREIMPERVIOUS SHEET OF THERMOSPLASTICPOLYVINYL RESIN, FIBROUS PAPER SHEETS COVERING BOTH SIDES OF SAID INNERSHEET AND THERMOPLASTICALLY BONDED THERETO, THE COMPOSITE SHEET BEINGFLEXIBLE AND BENDABLE AND BEING CORRUGATED BOTH LONGITUDINALLY ANDTRANSVERSELY PERMITTING SAME TO STRETCH IN TWO DIRECTIONS, AND A COATINGOF FLEXIBLE, STRETCHABLE ASPHALT COVERING BOTH SIDES OF SAID PAPERSHEETS AND BEING BONDED TO CORRUGATIONS THEREOF WHEREBY SAID COMPOSITESHEET MAY BE BONDED TO SURROUNDING MASONRY STRUCTURE.